Comments Off on Prizes galore in up-coming competitions with World Book Day and with Wicked Writers…

World Book Day’s 2017 award is to be sponsored by Walkers Books, in conjunction with their new picture book A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston, which celebrates books, reading and the power of the imagination in all their forms.

If you are a teacher, librarian or parent, your school could win a world of stories of up to £5,000 worth of Walker books – a wonderful, life-changing opportunity for schools.

Three second prizes worth £3,000 each, and 10 third prizes worth £1,000 each of books from the publisher will also be awarded. Each winner, plus 100 runners up, will additionally receive a signed copy of the book and a limited edition print for their school.

The deadline for entries is Friday 9th December 2016, with the winner and runners-up being announced on World Book Day itself, Thursday 2nd March 2017.

Jeffers and Winston will be joined on the judging panel by World Book Day Director Kirsten Grant.

It is a fabulous kick-off to celebrate 20 amazing years of World Book Day.

And if that is not exciting enough the Wicked Young Writer Awards are also accepting entries into their fabulous competition until 13th March 2017, in support of the National Literacy Trust.

To submit entries visit www.WickedYoungWriterAwards.com, where you will also find writing tips and resources from the Award judges. The acclaimed author and illustrator of the How to Train Your Dragon books, Cressida Cowell, will return as Head Judge for the awards for the third consecutive year. Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, will also be returning as part of the judging panel. This year, the Awards will be launched with two Story Surgery events: at the Young Adult Literature Weekender at the Southbank, London on 15 and 16 October, for 13+ year olds, and at the StoryStock Festival at the Lyric Hammersmith, London on 27 and 28 October, for 7-12 year olds. Young people will be able to take part in special, free workshops with published writers including young adult writers Nicole Burstein, Tamara MacFarlane and Lisa Williamson.

The Awards will work in partnership with Young Writers, CLPE (the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), First Story, Just Imagine, NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) and Pobble.

As in previous years, entrants can enter one of five different age categories; 5-7, 8-10, 11-14, 15-17, 18-25. In addition, the 2017 Awards sees the second year of the FOR GOOD AWARD for Non-Fiction, encouraging 15-25 year olds to write essays or articles that recognise the positive impact that people can have on each other, their communities and the world we live in.

120 finalists from across the UK will see their work published in the WICKED YOUNG WRITER AWARDS Anthology, which will be published in association with Young Writers . The 120 finalists are also invited to an exclusive ceremony at London’s Apollo Victoria, home to the musical Wicked since 2006, where judges and members of the Wicked cast announce who has won in each category.

Pieces of original writing can be submitted individually, or by a teacher, parent, carer or guardian on behalf of an entrant. Prizes include:

The overall winners from each category will win £50 book/eBook tokens, and the 5-14 year old winners will get £100 worth of books for their school library donated by Hachette Children’s Group.

Winners in the 15-17, 18-25 and FOR GOOD categories will also win an exclusive writing experience with one of the Awards’ literacy partners.

The three schools that submit the most entries will also win a Creative Writing Workshop for their school for up to thirty students delivered by Wicked’s education team.

Winners in all categories receive a VIP family experience at the West End production of Wicked, including tickets, an exclusive backstage tour and a meet-and-greet with members of the cast.